Fall from Camp & Robb Sts building reported to cops -owner says

The owner of the building at the corner of Camp & Robb streets has reported the incident involving a worker who was injured after falling from the third floor on Saturday to the police as he says he does not believe the story of how it occurred.

Giving his name only as R.N Khan, the man said that it was “highly impossible” for the incident to happen the way it was reported by another worker and he wants the police to investigate.

Eighteen-year-old Abdul Wazim Samad of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) at around midday Saturday after he fell through the elevator shaft from the third floor and was injured. Yesterday his father, Abdul Sheriff Samad told Stabroek News that his son underwent emergency surgery for his jaw and even though he cannot talk because of the injury, he is conscious and alert. The man is now hospitalized at the Woodlands Hospital.

The elevator shaft is at left in this photo. The concrete columns at centre is where the injured worker reportedly began backing away from.

Yesterday one of the workers on the building, Denhaul Clarke, told Stabroek News that he witnessed when the young man fell through the elevator shaft. He said that they were heading down to the bottom floor of the six-storey building for lunch and he was talking to the young man at the time. When they were on the third floor, Samad told him to hold for a minute and he proceeded to take off his jersey.

“While he teking off his jersey he backing, backing and before I could say ‘boy look dah hole’ he fall through,” Clarke said. He said that Samad had moved close to a concrete post near to the elevator shaft. The shaft is about eight feet away from the stairs down which they came and there is no barrier around it.

However, Khan said he does not believe the young man could have fallen under such circumstances. He said he did not believe Clarke’s story.

“He was the last person to see the man before he fall and I think the police should talk to he because I don’t see how the boy could fall like that. The stairs is about eight feet from the elevator shaft and I don’t see how the man could back, back and fall through, it is highly impossible,” Khan said.

He said that he has already spent half a million dollars on the young man’s medical expenses even though he was not directly employed with him but with the sub-contractor Richard Collins.

The man noted that regardless of how the incident happened he blames it on the negligence of the workers. He pointed out that they were not working on the building at the time but rather were on lunch. He also lamented that the incident as well as another incident last week which saw an object falling from the building and injuring a tourist whose vehicle was parked alongside the building is costing him money. “That was negligence too,” Khan said adding that he had to pay money in that instance.

The man also accused Stabroek News of always reporting negatively about the building but it was pointed out to him that whenever he is approached for information, he responded with abusive language.

Yesterday Samad’s father said that when he asked his son what transpired, through sign language, he indicated that he could not recall.

The man said that he was happy that his son’s condition was greatly improved compared to how he was on Saturday. He was also very pleased that Khan was standing all expenses even though the young man was not directly employed with him. He said his son had been working on the building for the past few weeks.

Meanwhile, while Stabroek News was on site at the building around midday yesterday, some of the workers expressed dissatisfaction that up to that point, they were not paid and said that it is a regular occurrence. “Imagine people have family and is Easter and we can’t get pay as yet. Last night [Saturday night} we wait until ten a clock fuh we money and nothing,” one worker said.

On December 3rd last year, four men were injured after they fell from the third to the second floor of the building. Anthony Fraser, 21; Kevon Goodman, 18, and at least one other man required medical attention following the incident. Another man, Rhude Boodem, did not require medical attention, and he was able to walk away from the fall with minor injuries.

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